Bound By Fate
by Mystical Melody
Summary: "Hermione! What are you doing here? And what is that you're holding?" The elderly woman peered down at the small bundle of cloth in Hermione's arms. "Dear Merlin..." Hermione finally spoke, her voice choked with emotion. "Narcissa, this is Draco's baby."
1. Chapter 1

**Rated: T - English - Romance/Drama - Hermione G. & Draco M. **  
><strong>Summary<strong>: "Hermione! What are you doing here? And what is that you're holding?" The elderly woman peered down at the small bundle of cloth in Hermione's arms. "Dear Merlin..." Hermione finally spoke, her voice choked with emotion. "Narcissa, this is Draco's baby."  
><strong>Author's Note:<strong> I'm proud to present to you _Bound By Fate_, a Dramione FanFic that will be pretty much canon, believe it or not! It will follow the epilogue, I think, but not some of the stuff JK Rowling has said. It might seem a bit confusing at first, but everything will come together soon. And the quote in the summary will be somewhere in the middle of the fic, not in the first chapter though. A big thank you to my wonderful beta: Claudia! (LostDreamSadSmile) Enjoy! And forget to leave a review!  
><strong>Disclaimer: <strong>I do not own Harry Potter. As you know, Harry Potter belongs to the magnificent JK Rowling.

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>Bound By Fate | Chapter One<br>**/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\

_FIVE YEARS AFTER THE WAR_

Hermione sat at her desk, furiously looking through a messy pile of papers. "Oh, where is it?" She muttered to herself. _It can't be lost! I need to use the paperwork tonight!_

Her eyes flickered across the room, carefully examining every nook and cranny in view. She stopped at a mahogany door that lay to the right of her desk. Upon it was a magnificent plate gilded with gold that read: DEPUTY HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT OF MAGICAL LAW ENFORCEMENT.

With a slight groan, Hermione stood up and pushed open the door, revealing another office room. This one was slightly smaller and darker, with wallpapers a dark green.

A man stood in the middle of the room, as though he was expecting her. He smoothed down his blonde hair and smirked. "Missing something?"

Hermione tried her best to look irritated, but her expression softened as soon as she looked up at her co-worker. She looked away and sighed instead, "Draco, just give me the documents. I don't have time for this. The case is tonight."

Draco flashed a cheeky grin at her and replied, "Ahh, but I'm also part of this case, and I have to come with you, so I have to review the papers too. Besides, you probably already memorized it word for word."

Hermione glared at him, wondering why she'd chose him as her assistant. She thought back to the day she hired him, and realized she didn't know that her assistant was going to be her former sworn enemy from Hogwarts until the name tag was put on the door connecting to his office.

At last, Hermione decided that to let him take the stack of papers. She _had _memorized it after all. "Fine. Just don't lose them."

"Oh and talking about losing things," Draco started to say, "You left something at my place last night." Hermione's face turned bright red, and Draco smirked again. "You might want to get them, before, you know, my mother finds them. She wanders around the manor a lot these days."

Hermione didn't need to be told twice. Pulling out her wand, she turned her face away from Draco so he couldn't see how furiously she was blushing and apparated to Malfoy Manor to retrieve her things.

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"'Mione, umm, do you want to go out for dinner tonight? You know, just the two of us? Or maybe I could invite Harry and Ginny to come too. I want to see little Jamesie again."

Hermione stared with annoyance, although she tried not to let it show, at Ron. Was he that daft? She'd told him just yesterday that she had a case tonight and an important one too! "Sorry, Ron," Hermione said, try to keep the exasperation out of her voice, "I've got a big investigation tonight. You know the one at Hogwarts. Apparently a child was doing dark magic in the forest." She prompted him softly, as though talking to a toddler.

Ron's face fell, and Hermione was reminded of a sad puppy. The two weren't technically dating, but it was obvious to everyone that Ron liked Hermione. "But I can go tomorrow Ron!" She said, trying to cheer him up. "Can you call Harry and Ginny to tell them?"

Ron nodded his head eagerly, but before he could speak again, Hermione disapparated, telling him it was time for her to go to leave for work.

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Draco walked behind Hermione, staring at the mess of wavy brown hair cascading down her back. They had already gotten into Hogwarts, accompanied by none other than Headmistress McGonagall and Deputy Headmaster Flitwick.

McGonagall was speaking as they walked, telling them how the prefects made sure everyone was in bed, and how they had to make sure this and that... blah blah blah. Draco didn't really care. He just wanted to start looking around.

"Off you go." Flitwick squeaked when they finally approached the Forest. "Be careful, and report back to us at midnight, or we'll come looking for you." And they walked off, leaving Hermione and Draco to talk in private.

Hermione turned to look at Draco and said in a bossy tone, "Draco, you go left and I'll go right. If either of us finds anything, we'll send up green sparks. If you're in danger, send up red sparks."

Draco was reminded of his first detention at Hogwarts and shuddered, but he didn't want to think about that right now. Now was time to focus.

He pulled out his wand and began to murmur complicated incantations. _Rem revelare abscondita. Tenebris invenies. Solitudinem mysteriis. _His wand moved in figure eights, fancy waves, and things that looked rather like his arm was just spazzing uncontrollably. Beads of sweat ran down his forehead, and finally, his hard work paid off.

_Mori hie elenov. _A ray of light shone on the floor, but the light was dim and Draco couldn't see anything. He dropped to his knees and felt the leafy floor. Suddenly, his hand came in contact with an object. Draco conjured gloves before he touched it, fearing that the object would contain some sort of dark magic, and then he grabbed it, quickly, so that, in case the object had ability to sense humans around it, it would not be able to react fast enough.

Draco was surprised when he saw the object was just a ring. Had someone dropped it there? _Maximus Lumos_. Turning the ring over in his protected hand, he felt engravements on it. They resembled two snakes, with heads nearing the diamond-shaped black stone. After looking at it even close, he saw a triangle, a circle, and a line upon the stone. How unusual. Draco had seen this symbol before somewhere, but he couldn't remember where.

But there was no time to think about that. Draco heard the red sparks in the air before he saw them, and ran immediately to the source, dropping the ring in his official Ministry of Magic Employee robe pocket.

From behind a few trees, Draco could see Hermione, her arms covering her face, and her hand holding out a shaky wand. A weak patronus burst from her wand, but flickered and died almost immediately.

"_EXPECTO PATRONUM!" _Draco shouted, thinking of the time Hermione and he had went to Paris for a case, and a magnificent silver fox erupted from his wand.

It seemed like there was an endless supply of dementors coming out from the trunk of a dead tree, but Draco stayed strong, and so did his patronus, until all the dementors fled.

"Hermione, are you okay?" Draco knelt by Hermione's side, who was shuddering violently. She nodded in spite of this, and stood up. Draco put his arm around her delicately quaking form, offering comfort. She leant against him gratefully.

Suddenly, Draco backed away from her and said hastily, "Let's get back to Professor McGonagall. We can come back to investigate more some other time."

Hermione nodded in agreement, even though she felt slightly hurt by his distance. In silence, they walked back to the castle.

Draco was just a flurry of feelings. Confusion, surprise, joy, sadness, and a lot of other things. He tried to comprehend what he'd just seen, but he couldn't.

After apparating back to Malfoy Manor, Draco tried to sleep, but all that was on his mind was Hermione's patronus. She herself didn't see it, but Draco was sure of what he had seen.

Hermione's patronus was a fox, almost identical to the one Draco had cast.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:** A big thank you to my wonderful beta: Claudia! (LostDreamSadSmile)  
>I would also like to thank all my reviewers and subscribers, especially <em>twelvex<em>, for reminding me to update! And talking about updating, I'm so sorry for waiting so long! It is well into the school year and I am super busy. Well anyway, enjoy! And don't forget to leave a review!

**Disclaimer: **If I were JK Rowling, Hermione and Draco would be together. This is how you know I don't own Harry Potter.

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><strong>Bound By Fate | Chapter Two<br>**/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\

Draco paced his room, trying unsuccessfully to forget Hermione's Patronus. But, instead, he found himself pondering the meaning of the silvery fox. Draco had read a few things on Patronuses previously, and that included Patronus changes, but he just couldn't fathom the thought. From the table in his bedroom, Draco grabbed the book and read the passage again.

_Patronus changes are very rare. However, after a severe emotional upheaval, a witch or wizard's Patronus may change form. The most common case is love. When a witch or wizard falls in love, his or her Patronus will be subject to change form into his or her true love's Patronus. Less common situations include severe memory loss, thinking oneself is someone else, and certain dark spells that can cause emotional instability. _

He thought it over again. Let's see. Just a few years back, it was clear that Hermione's patronus had been an otter. Now it changed. Into a fox, which just so happened to be Draco's own Patronus.

Hermione couldn't have suffered from "severe memory loss", "thinking oneself is someone else," or been the subject of a dark magic experiment. He would've known if that were the case.

So what? Hermione _loved _him?

Draco swallowed painfully. She couldn't. He could never love her back. He was Draco Malfoy. He could never fall in love with a muggle-born.

After hours of trying to figure out what to do, Draco reluctantly decided to follow his dying father's wishes. Lucius had wanted him to start a new life in America, to open another big Malfoy corporation and restore the family fortune.

Yes, Draco would leave the next day. He had to. It was for Hermione's own good.

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Hermione frowned. Draco was... sick? He'd never been sick, not once in the five years Hermione had worked with him. Well, he had been acting a little odd yesterday, and so Hermione let it go, and continued to write up every little detail about the Hogwarts investigation.

Suddenly, an owl flew through her window, and Hermione smiled, recognizing it as Draco's. She set the letter down on her desk, not opening it just yet, to feed the owl, whom Draco had named Constance. Even though Constance was still very young and small, she had a beautiful red coat and magnificent eyes. Hermione smiled as she pet Constance's flawless soft feathers.

Finally, Constance gave a hoot and departed, leaving Hermione to read the letter. Humming, she opened it.

_Dear Ms. Hermione Granger, _

_I would like to inform you of my resignation from the Ministry of Magic, Deputy Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. As you know, my father Lucius Malfoy has gone to Azkaban. Previous to his departure, my father expressed his one last wish toward me. Therefore, to carry this out, I have left this morning for America. By the time you receive this letter, I will have already gone. _

_I apologize for any inconveniences this may cause you. _

_Sincerely,  
>Draco Lucius Malfoy<em>

Hermione stood, shocked. Then she closed her eyes and counted slowly to ten before rereading Draco's letter. She still could not believe it. Draco... resigned? What just happened? Did something happen recently for him to leave so suddenly? She was confused to say the least, and disappointed too. Hermione had spent so many years working with him that it seemed almost surreal to think she wouldn't see him ever again.

She was interrupted from her thoughts by a red-haired man entering her office. He looked like was about to burst from happiness. "Guess what 'Mione! Malfoy resigned! You never have to see that greasy-haired git ever again!"

Hermione tried not to grit her teeth when answering. "Yes Ronald, Draco resigned. I think I would know, since he _is _my assistant." She was about to point out Draco's hair wasn't greasy, but stopped herself, wondering briefly why she would stand up for Draco in front of Ron.

Ron's smile didn't falter for a second. "Oh, well, okay then! See you tonight! I made reservations at La Luxe with Harry and Ginny!"

He skipped out of the room, leaving Hermione to put her head in her arms and wonder why she'd even agreed to this double date.

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The date went by uneventfully. Every now and then, there were long periods of silences in which everyone just sat and ate their food. Hermione ordered only a salad, since she didn't recognize anything else on the menu.

"So, are you guys officially together?" Harry asked Ron and Hermione, attempting to break the awkward silence.

Ron flashed Hermione a toothy smile and answered happily, 'Oh yes, of course, right 'Mione?'

Ron pecked Hermione on her cheek and pulled her close to him, embracing her in such a way that she could not push him away. Hermione gave a weak smile at the contact before returning to her salad, poking the tomato around with her fork.

Ginny suddenly brightened up and exclaimed, "Hey! You guys want to come over and see little James? Sorry we couldn't bring him; he's much too young for such a fancy restaurant."

Hermione nodded eagerly. James was Harry and Ginny's first child, and he was the probably the cutest, most adorable baby Hermione had ever seen.

"Hi James!" Hermione cooed, after the apparition to Ginny and Harry's flat, "Look how big you've grown!"

James gurgled and flashed a toothless smile at Hermione, who turned back to Ginny and asked, "He's two now?" Ginny nodded.

Hermione turned back to James and said gently, 'Well, James, you're a big boy now! And Miss Hermione's going to tell you a story! How 'bout that? A story! This tale is called Babbitty Rabbitty and her Cackling Stump. Once upon a time, there was a king. And this king wanted to keep all his magic to himself, so he... "

Ginny chuckled behind her. _Oh, a story. Typical Hermione._

At last Hermione finished her tale, and the two girls left to chat while Harry and Ron played with James and gave him pointers on how to ride a broomstick.

"So Mrs. Ginevra Molly Weasley Potter, how is married life?" Hermione asked Ginny.

Ginny beamed. "Oh, Hermione! Married life is wonderful! Harry is so sweet to me. I can't believe it; I finally get him after years and years of pining after him. And James is so adorable too, such a wonderful child. I can't believe my good fortune, I feel so lucky to have this life!"

Hermione nodded, and she couldn't help feeling a tiny pang of jealousy.

Ginny's voice dropped to a whisper, "Listen, Hermione, I've got a secret to tell you."

Hermione nodded, but didn't speak, wondering what kind of secret this was going to be.

Ginny put a finger to her lips before pointing to her stomach.

Hermione gasped, "You're pregnant!"

"Shh! The boys will hear! I _think_ I'm pregnant, but Harry doesn't know about it yet, and I just wanted to tell you so you could do the charm on me, since I know you won't make any mistakes. I want to be sure before I surprise him."

Hermione nodded, "What's the charm?" Ginny pointed to a book lying on her bookshelf entitled _Pregnancy for Witches_, and Hermione opened it to find that the charm was called _conceptus_.

Ginny was indeed pregnant, and she had been for a month now, with another baby boy, as shown from the glittering blue words floating in mid-air. Hermione strained to keep her voice down. "Oh Gin! Another baby boy!"

Ginny clapped her hands together, "Oh Hermione, I'm so happy! I'm gonna go tell Harry now!"

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Life at the office was much more depressing without Draco. Hermione still worked meticulously each day, but she missed Draco's presence. She started gazing at the wooden door that held the sign DEPUTY HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT OF MAGICAL LAW ENFORCEMENT, hoping that, magically, Draco would appear, and everything would go back to normal. But it never happened.

On a particular gloomy evening after work, Hermione set her purse down on her countertop and frowned at it. She eyed the unused pads and briefly wondered why her period hadn't come yet. And suddenly, like a thunderstorm, it struck her, and Hermione grasped her table for support. No! It couldn't be!


End file.
